


Sands of Time

by wolfgun



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Multi, just.... after the battle, nothing pda, post-KH2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 06:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3280493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfgun/pseuds/wolfgun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sort of a little thing extended from the end of KH2; where Sora and Riku and Kairi's adventures left them with marks both on their bodies and minds.</p><p>Not sad, but uplifting and light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sands of Time

It's been so long since Sora had seen this stretch of sand; this sunset and these waves. He took a deep, slow breath.  
  
They had done it again; they had prevailed over the darkness. Yeah, it sucked that he had to do it twice; but he was proud. He was glad to finally be home and have the sand under his feet with these familiar trees over his head.  
  
He closed his eyes and raised his chin, letting the breeze wash over him and the sound of the surf fill him. It almost felt like he was... being recharged by his home. Snickering softly to himself as intense giddiness bubbled up from his stomach, he wiggled his feet even farther into the sand.  
  
Even though he hadn't felt comfortable with it, he had put away the clothes he had donned for the past months in favor of a loose, summery outfit. The ones he used to wear before all that. Before the darkness and the keyblade and the chaos.  
  
It made him slightly uneasy, but as long as he could manifest his weapon at any given time he'd be okay. He told himself that over and over.  
  
A hand landed on his shoulder, and he let out an embarrassing squeak as he turned to find his best friends behind him. Riku was giving him a concerned frown.  
  
"Hey, you okay? I didn't mean to--"  
  
"Yeah, yeah! I'm perfectly fine. You just startled me was all!"  He gave the two of them a wide smile, feeling himself relax again. Yeah, as long as his friends were here, he was safe.  
  
Kairi still looked unconvinced. "Well... whatever you say."  
  
If anything, Sora would have thought that their reunion at the beach of their childhood would be filled with jokes and reminiscing and laughter--but instead it was just... quiet. Surrounded by the smells and sounds of the beach, their beating hearts, and the sway of their hair in the wind. It was... humbling.  
  
The island had gone on without them; this sand is not the same he stepped on before. It filled Sora with both happiness and sadness; he wasn't exactly sure how he felt.  
  
On an impulse, he turned to Riku. "Hey, let's spar."  
  
The other boy whipped around and gave Sora the most incredulous look. '"What?"  
  
"What do you mean, 'what'? Didn't you hear m--"  
  
"I heard you; It's just...." Riku shook his head as if to clear it. "Well, alright. But I'm gonna kick your ass."  
  
The brunette's smile turned into a mischievous smirk. "Oh, we shall see..."  
  
They both walked a ways onto the more firm sand; and fell into stance. Riku poised with his blade over his head, and Sora crouched slightly, tightly gripping the keyblade.  
  
"Okay, cool, just go on and fight without me," Kairi added, annoyed. A slight clang sounded as she summoned and dismissed her weapon.  
  
"You can fight whoever wins!" Sora said, and charged at Riku.  
  
Memories filtered through his head as they exchanged blows; nostalgia filled him. The only difference was that they were both taller; older; and deadlier.  
  
Much, much deadlier.  
  
Riku won, but only because Sora slipped on an especially slippery patch of sand, or something like that. Either way, he landed with a loud grunt. The tip of the dark-winged keyblade disappeared under Sora's nose, and Riku started to snort as he saw his opponent splayed on the ground.  
  
"Jeez, Sora, you're a mess. You're covered in sand!" Kairi called, with a light laugh.  
  
"Well that's hardly my fault! The sand needs to fight me, honestly. I lost because it decided to trip me up!"  
  
Riku joined Kairi in laughing with (not at--important detail there) Sora as he struggled to stand.  
  
But her blue eyes flashed, and her hand shot out to hold Sora's forearm. He froze, and glanced at her in confusion.  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
Kairi stared Sora for a brief moment, hand on her chin in thought, before lifting up Sora's shirt over his head. He let out a short sound of annoyance, and tried to struggle out of her grasp, though not getting far at all with her death grip--and then grunted in surprise as she suddenly let go, which sent him stumbling away.  
  
"What--"  
  
"You have an imprint."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"It's.... almost not there, but... it's the heartless insignia.." Kairi frowned at him.  
  
Riku's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Wait, Kairi--what do you mean? How is there--"  
  
Sora pulled up his shirt again to reveal that on his belly, slightly to the left, was in fact a slight discoloration of the emblem for heartless.  
  
"Woah. Weird..."  
  
"Sora, you didn't notice this?" Kairi tapped her foot and crossed her arms.  
  
"Uh... no?" Truth be told, it may have caught his eye--but what was he supposed to do? Walk on over to them and announce it? "It doesn't hurt or anything..."  
  
"Well if Sora has one, what does that mean for me?" Riku wiped his palms on his shirt, gripping the hem tightly. Kairi made a motion upwards with her hands, and after a moment's hesitation, he lifted his shirt as well.

"I don't see anything... maybe... turn around," Kairi stated. Riku did as she said.

  
On his back, right between his shoulder blades, was a much more indented and much more defined heartless insignia. Sora's mouth dropped open and Kairi relayed the news to Riku. She cuffed him reassuringly (but also very hard) on the shoulder. Riku winced visibly.

  
"Well, remind me not to do stupid things when it comes to matters of the heart, yeah?" She glared daggers at the both of them. The two avoided eye contact.  
  
An intricate blade assembled itself again in a flash of light in Kairi's hand, and she smirked dangerously.  
  
"So which one of you wants to get their asses kicked first? I have some debts to repay from the last year or so when you two ran off, y'know."  
  
Sora and Riku exchanged a brief look; and then took off, in the opposite direction of Kairi and her keyblade.

As the sand gave slightly under his step and the wind blew across his face, Sora let out a laugh. Kairi's angry yell of "Hey! Where the hell do you two think you're going!?" spurred his legs faster and made his laugh grow louder. His heart pumped under the sun, sure and true.

Wherever in the world he would want to be, that place would surely be here, on the island; with the greatest friends in the whole wide web of worlds.

**Author's Note:**

> *EDIT: I reread this, and fixed a few repeated verbs and stuff. 
> 
> A short prompt by my friend from MONTHS ago that I finally got around to finishing. At 1 am. I literally did this in forty-five minutes.  
> That being said, it's far from perfect; but... here you go.  
> I'm definitely avoiding my responsibilities.


End file.
